"Whither Bangladesh?" - Robin Marlar article from 1976

[Tintin]

February 1976 - Robin Marlar examines the plight of a territory which no longer knows Test cricket

Bangladesh is not a member of the International Cricket Conference. She should be. Bengali cricket is numerically strong. Dacca is a Test match ground fit to rank with any in the world, and if the attraction to Pakistan for playing there in the 50s and 60s was as much concerned with revenue at the gate as encouraging local stars, that in itself was a reflection of the passionate interest in the game. And there have been talented players there, too. Something has to be done to restore the people of the seventh-largest democracy in the world to the international family of cricket.

Source

Edited on, December 18, 2004, 4:48 PM GMT, by Zunaid.

[AGC]

Very interesting article! Thanks Tintin.

[fwullah]

I suggest changing the topic of this thread to "THE FAMOUS ROBIN MARLER ARTICLE" or "THE ARTICLE THAT CHANGED BANGLADESH'S CRICKET HISTORY".

[Zunaid]

Originally posted by fwullah
I suggest changing the topic of this thread to "THE FAMOUS ROBIN MARLER ARTICLE" or "THE ARTICLE THAT CHANGED BANGLADESH'S CRICKET HISTORY".

Changed title - good suggestion

[Ahmed_B]

Great Article!

"...As for the playing of the game itself, an embryo league was already in existence. University was in flannelled action. So - bless them - were the British Embassy with the Ambassador himself one of the keenest..."

I suppose he is talking about elementary dhaka league.. and league between the University Teams here.

One big change in the current structure of cricket in BD, in my view, is that.. in the Pre-Test Status era.. BD team used to consist of players coming from the competetive Dhaka league & also from the Teams of the top-cricket playing universities(so many good ones hav come from Dhaka University & so on)..
These players were well tempered & well seasoned.. and they are the ones who got our cricket at this level that we are now.

I don't really think that BKSP alone.. or a few high-profile coaches alone can giv our cricket a long-lasting strong & widespread foundation. We do need regular & competetive Domestic leagues back.. and even re-encourage inter-university cricket tournaments too.

[BanglaCool]

What do you think about this article?
Its truly amazing!

February 1976

Whither Bangladesh?

February 1976 - Robin Marlar examines the plight of a territory which no longer knows Test cricket

Bangladesh is not a member of the International Cricket Conference. She should be. Bengali cricket is numerically strong. Dacca is a Test match ground fit to rank with any in the world, and if the attraction to Pakistan for playing there in the 50s and 60s was as much concerned with revenue at the gate as encouraging local stars, that in itself was a reflection of the passionate interest in the game. And there have been talented players there, too. Something has to be done to restore the people of the seventh-largest democracy in the world to the international family of cricket.

During the last MCC tour of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, I detached myself from the party between the Kanpur and Bombay Tests - the fourth and fifth - and equipped with a precious visa obtained in Delhi from the infant Bangladesh diplomatic service set off for Dacca with only the vaguest idea of whom I was trying to see or even where I was to stay.

Once installed in the city, where the Press Club still bore the scars of 25-pounder shells, the welcome was overpowering to the point of astonishment. An appointment was made with the senior civil servants in charge of sport at the Ministry of Education. I waited at the back of the room while the Russian delegation pored over the small print in a document about soccer coaching: heavy stuff, but a distinct incident in the struggle for political spheres of influence. After that the first ball of the conventional innings was, `Sorry I have come without an agenda', against which a hearty laugh and `Thank goodness for that - I thought we would never finish' represented a hit far into the crowd. It was the start of two happy days.

Propped up by loans
Bangladesh is poor. Poorer now perhaps even than in 1973. The cost of cricket equipment is high and grows higher. India has helped. But when people are starving there is no time for circuses. Or is there? In fact the creation of a Bangladesh sports equipment industry had already been ` identified as a priority in the second rank. But getting started - the investment of capital for the acquisition of minor pieces of plant and major injection of know-how-that is proving an insuperable problem for a country propped up by loans from the rest of the world.

Dacca Stadium was being used for a hockey match. It could not be used for cricket. The square had sunk several inches. The grass was in poor shape. Deep splits, wide enough for a hand, appeared across a good length. And yet I was told with such conviction that I believed that it would take less than six months for the whole place to be in such order. A new Test wicket could be prepared, not perhaps as good as that which had been but true enough. In view of the history of high scores and few results, that, one reflected, could be an advantage.

As for the playing of the game itself, an embryo league was already in existence. University was in flannelled action. So - bless them - were the British Embassy with the Ambassador himself one of the keenest.

Tour wanted
Furthermore an organisation in embryo existed as a foundation for a properly constituted Board of Control, with officers and a little money. It was clear that one of the events which would help to re-establish the game would be a tour from overseas, playing at Dacca and Chittagong and possibly in a delta town or up among the tea plantations in the hills. The thought of planning for such a tour would among other by-products help to unite those interested in cricket to pull together for a common purpose. There was, even at that time, considerable interest being aroused in the first World Cup.

On my return to London, I reported to Lord's on my visit and wrote articles which aroused interest and some small and helpful approaches. However it was then March and such is the bureaucratic machinery which now surrounds cricket that it was regarded as impossible for the International Cricket Conference of 1973 to consider an application for membership from Bangladesh. This is of course an essential step. The agenda for the meeting is completed early in the New Year even though the meeting itself is not held until July. Such is the inflexibility of the procedure that an item like this could not be expected to go through on the nod. Admittedly at that stage there were some political undercurrents and I had no wish to push cricket's permanent officials into a pool of political piranha fish.

Still no membership
It is now two years later. There have been two more ICC meetings. All manner of countries have appeared and been warmly welcomed - as indeed they should be. Cricket is essentially above consideration of race and politics. Put out the flags for all. But still there is no move to have Bangladesh included. Recently I talked to the secretariat at Lord's and there is no inclination to do anything except react to a request from Dacca to join. The fact is that the Bangladeshis - as in so many other, features of life - need a helping hand. They are unaware that they need a proposer and a seconder for their entry. They are unaware that they need a body which represents their cricket to communicate with headquarters. And headquarters, with a degree of head-in-air which I find deplorable, appears unable to get off its collective posterior and do something to help.

The only solution seems to me to be for someone from India to go to Dacca and help the Bangladeshis to organise the game in that sad country. It would, one imagines, not be impossible for either the Bengal XI or a representative Indian XI to stage a match in Dacca - if not this season then next. It ought to be possible, even at this stage, for MCC to spend a day playing in Dacca. It is, after all, only 45 minutes flying time from Calcutta.

Sadly, though, there is a degree of lethargy about the prospect. Yet it is so simple. All countries must now know that the World Cup will get better and better the more teams enter. East Africa and Sri Lanka were in some ways the stars of the 1975 spectacular. For my own part I shall not be satisfied unless Bangladesh takes its place in the next World Cup, wherever it is held.

© Cricinfo

http://content.cricinfo.com/crickete...ry/135968.html

Edited on, July 24, 2005, 3:06 PM GMT, by reverse_swing.
Reason: mod.action: Thread merged.

[Arnab]

For other articles related to Bangladesh Cricket History, you can browse the BC history section:

http://www.banglacricket.com/History/articles.php

[Hasib]

I'll just delete this whole chunk seens its already been posted...

Edited on, July 26, 2005, 11:59 AM GMT, by Hasib.

[Hasib]

well its always good to see how far we have come...nearly 30 years later. Isn't the author, Robin Marlar, has something to do with the MCC now?

[thebest]

We could thank Robin Marlar by giving him an honorary membership of BCB or BCCB (whatever it is) or just naming England Bangladesh series as Robin Marlar series.

[Banglatiger84]

thats what I call foresight !

Just wait and see some article optimistic about us today, being reproduced 15 years later when we are World Champions !

[silly_point]

Robin Marlar is MCC's president for the 2005-06 term. He was an offie during Jim Laker days but made name for being a "trenchant cricket writer and a member of MCC's influential cricket committee".
Deserves our thanks surely.

http://content.cricinfo.com/england/...yer/17328.html

Originally posted by Hasib
Isn't the author, Robin Marlar, has something to do with the MCC now?

[cricketboy]

So, he wanted Bangladesh to play in 1980 world Cup. Wow!